this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
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Summary

Elon Musk sparked outrage in Germany by endorsing the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party on his platform, X, claiming “only the AfD can save Germany.”

The AfD, which polls second ahead of Germany’s February snap election, has been labeled extremist by German intelligence.

Political leaders accused Musk of election interference, while others criticized his remarks as harmful. Musk later doubled down, calling for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s resignation.

Musk’s comments align with his past support for far-right and anti-immigration figures across Europe and beyond.

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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 227 points 5 days ago (7 children)

It's important to note that right after saying this...

A German AFD supporter who retweets Musk drove into a Christmas market in a terrorist attack

Germany has stricter laws about inciting violence, it's a long shot but maybe he'll get charges

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 84 points 5 days ago (10 children)

Elon Musk is, as far as I am concerned, directly responsible for (so far and let's hope it stays that way) the murder of five people.

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[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 39 points 5 days ago

And the AfD's knee-jerk reaction was to assume he was a muslim jihadist, proving his point about German attitudes about Saudi refugees.

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[–] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 80 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (4 children)

We're running into the paradox of tolerance real quick here folks. Democracies need to legislate limits to the political influence of rich idiots and soon, otherwise we'll all end up like the US.

[–] fibojoly@sh.itjust.works 9 points 4 days ago

Well, funny thing is we do have rules about what you can and cannot say, in Europe. I'm looking forward to him discovering those little subtleties, since he clearly cannot shut his trap.

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 18 points 5 days ago

Rest of the world, please take us as a cautionary tale, not a model for emulation

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[–] 30p87@feddit.org 178 points 5 days ago

Nazi supporting Nazi also supports other Nazis.

[–] riodoro1@lemmy.world 92 points 5 days ago (7 children)

What the fuck does he even know about germany?

[–] Xtallll@lemmy.blahaj.zone 34 points 5 days ago

What the fuck does he know about America?

[–] b161@lemmy.blahaj.zone 27 points 5 days ago

It doesn’t matter to him. All he knows that he’s a Dark Enlightenment fascist white supremacist. The poors and non-whites must die. Fascist governments must be in power everywhere so he can have his world where he is king, he has robots to do his bidding and can try to live forever.

[–] Worx@lemmynsfw.com 27 points 5 days ago

He knows that Nazis are from there, and that's pretty fckn rad baby

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 18 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (3 children)

His knowledge is mostly restricted to the years 1933-1945.

He didn't read the ending. No one tell him the spoiler.

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[–] themaninblack@lemmy.world 47 points 5 days ago (3 children)

There is nothing surprising about a white South African promoting a racist political party. White South Africans are the most openly and unabashedly racist people on the planet.

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[–] obinice@lemmy.world 30 points 4 days ago (1 children)

He's a modern day Nazi leader, what do you expect him to say?

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[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 89 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Elon grew up and enjoyed the South African Apartheid regime and he is a neo-Nazi.

[–] Zoldyck@lemmy.world 105 points 5 days ago

Elon Musk is a danger to democracy all over the world

[–] WeUnite@lemm.ee 74 points 5 days ago (1 children)

No country is safe from Elon Musk's election interference. It's urgent that we boycott Twitter and Tesla. If you have a Twitter account do the following now:

  1. Send a DM to your favorite accounts and urge them to stop using Twitter.
  2. (If you haven't already) register for Bluesky.
  3. Make a Tweet saying you are no longer using Twitter.
  4. Tell your friends to follow the same instructions.

These could take as little as five minutes of your time but it will make a huge difference because of the ripple effect. When one person leaves it will automatically incentivize your friends to follow you. You have the power to make a difference.

[–] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 50 points 5 days ago (2 children)

register for Bluesky

Replace that with Mastodon and you're golden.

[–] bss03@infosec.pub 35 points 5 days ago (8 children)

Either is better than X/Twitter for now. Bluesky is "easier" for many people. I prefer Mastodon myself, but there's a bridge so I can follow Bluesky profiles (and vice-versa) which is nice.

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[–] Freefall@lemmy.world 17 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Only Nazis can save Germany...isn't there precedent for that not working?

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Well Elon isn't Jewish, gay, roma, disabled, Germsn, polish, French, Italian, Russian, British, …or a poor American so it isn't his problem

[–] Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de 110 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

An apartheid-loving nazi calls for the nazi party to be the savior of Germany? Never would I have guessed.

The information, I as a not very politically interested German (understatement) have: We are holding re-elections on Feburary 23rd because the current government imploded. Basically, the rich guys' party doesn't want to make rich guys pay taxes and being children about it, most other parties seem desperate at this point, else they wouldn't have challenged that much. They have never cared that much, so I have no idea what changed. The populist nazi party Musk cheers for has a lot traction because people are beyond stupid and self-centered and I fear that they will get a significant amount of votes. Maybe they don't win outright, but they will realistically take second place. I regard everyone that considers to vote for AfD as a nazi.

[–] killingspark@feddit.org 29 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I think the real problem is that most parties in Germany that held some power in the last decades did little to nothing to actually improve the economic situation of the "normal" people. For many it stayed the same, for many others it declined significantly starting with Corona and then with the energy crisis that contributed heavily to the inflation.

Paired with us being one of the few nations that raise no taxes at all on wealth but just on income the disparity between the rich and the poor is growing. So people have only the parties that haven't held power yet to turn to.

I think it's at least partially some weird form of misplaced hope that something will change for the better in the chaos that would be a AfD government.

But you are correct, supporting the AfD is directly benefiting Nazis. And while I don't think that all AfD supporters will always be Nazis, they currently are.

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[–] Zaphod@discuss.tchncs.de 82 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Stfu Musk you know shit about Germany

[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 25 points 5 days ago (13 children)

English teacher here. Often editing to use less words can make your statements more concise and accurate. For example, try "STFU Musk, you know shit"

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[–] Sorgan71@lemmy.world 41 points 5 days ago (2 children)
[–] TheFriar@lemm.ee 45 points 5 days ago

Well, the nazism, the car thing, the evil vulture capitalist…kinda similar.

[–] LavenderDay3544@lemmings.world 38 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

TBH he is. Ford was a piece of shit and so is he.

[–] slingstone@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago (5 children)

Save Germany from what? Being a successful, modern country that takes care of its people?

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[–] cows_are_underrated@feddit.org 50 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Musk later doubled down, calling for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s resignation.

This stupid POS doesn't even know that this already happened a few days ago.

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[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago

If luigi killed this guy I would not shed a single tear.

I would crack open an ice cold beer.

[–] matlag@sh.itjust.works 11 points 4 days ago

You should be more undersantding. Since Trump is now enraged because people call Musk the President, Musk needs to find a backup country where he'll be called the leader before Trump kicks him out. That's all just risk mitigation!

[–] PedroMaldonado@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

You know what bothers me? Musk knows hes bullshitting everyone and it seems like its fucking laugh to him. Remember when the hyper rich built libraries and funded colleges and, i dunno, just gave back? To think, just a few short years ago, he was presenting as some kind of visionary. Turns out, hes just a capitalist asshole.

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[–] kn0wmad1c@programming.dev 51 points 5 days ago

Literal supervillain

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 34 points 5 days ago (2 children)

American here. Can we begin our deportations with Musk?

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[–] nutsack@lemmy.world 17 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

vietnamese people think elon musk and donald trump are right about everything because they are smart because they are rich and because america is a democracy

they are deified, basically. just like ho chi minh

[–] Supervisor194@lemmy.world 37 points 5 days ago (6 children)

Why do Putin and the billionaires he shepherds think that all this far-right democracy killing shit is so super duper? I marvel that they never seem to stop and think "this could eventually go badly for me."

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 33 points 5 days ago

They want every place to be like Russia. It's always been their main contention that democracy is just a sham and basically everyone is a fascist. This is one of the main reasons for invading Ukraine because he couldn't tolerate a democratic nation as his neighbour. It'll give the plebes ideas, you know.

[–] Serinus@lemmy.world 26 points 5 days ago

Because Putin wants Russia to be the geopolitical superpower it was in 1960. It's a hell of a lot easier to tear the rest of the world down than it is to build up Russia.

That's part of why he's so eager for war. The last big shakeup of the global order was WWII. He doesn't have the patience to accomplish geopolitical power closer to the way China is, by slowly building up their economy over decades.

And he's right that a bunch of people dying often helps the economy. The black plage was 1350, followed by the Renaissance around 1400-1600. We're familiar enough with post WWII.

But that's the dumb and evil way to grant power to labor. You can create more demand for labor without literally killing half your laborers. And it turns out having a real, healthy middle class is great for the economy.

Personally, I believe you could accomplish a similar effect by having a ridiculously high minimum wage and mandating a maximum of 32 hour work weeks. Seems like it might be worth experimenting with when the alternative "fix" is to kill half your people.

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[–] realitista@lemmy.world 24 points 5 days ago

It should be unsurprising that he's trying to destroy other major economies around the world, seeing as that's the policy of those who he's aligned himself with politically.

[–] lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com 21 points 5 days ago (1 children)

This country collapses when the far right party is in power.

We have a huge problem. Me need young people from other countries, because Germany is pretty old.

Having those clowns in power will worsen the problem.

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[–] ModernRisk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

Elon Musk sparked outrage in Germany by endorsing the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party on his platform, X, claiming “only the AfD can save Germany.”

I do not understand the outrage on this (regard Musk being Far-Right supporter), everyone knows Musk has become an immensely Extreme Far-Right supporter and leans heavily into Fascism. He support all the Right/ Far-Right political parties and people.

“only the AfD can save Germany.”

As usual, his claims are immensely wrong, stupid and idiotic. I mean, the afD literally tried to do a coúp in Germany;

  1. Gevaar voor Duitsland niet geweken met oppakken coupplanners, angst voor rechts-radicale AfD groeit.
  2. Germany's far-right AfD party to eject members for suspected links to militant group.

The AfD, which polls second ahead of Germany’s February snap election, has been labeled extremist by German intelligence.

Unfortunately shows that lots of people in Germany are supporting Far-Right/ Nazism ideas, tactics and ideology. Especially since it has been proven that many of the afD are Nazi-supports (especially the leaders);

  1. Co-leader of Germany's far-right AfD party fined for using Nazi slogan

From article 3;

The case involved Björn Höcke's use of "Everything for Germany!" in a 2021 speech. While prosecutors said he knew it was originally a Nazi slogan, Höcke claimed it was an "everyday saying".

This text is to separate the quote of the article and the quote from OP's post.

Political leaders accused Musk of election interference, while others criticized his remarks as harmful.

Accussed? If I remember, he did interfere with the election in America by trying to 'purchase' votes (Insanity that this is allowed);

  1. Elon Musk can keep giving $1m to voters, judge rules.
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